Protecting the Psychodermatology Health Care Professional

Psychodermatology is an emerging subspecialty of dermatology dealing with the complex interaction between the skin and the mind. Psychodermatology, or psychocutaneous medicine, deals with two large categories of patients: (a) patients with primary psychiatric disease that develop secondary skin lesions or symptoms and (b) patients with primary dermatological disease that develop significant psychiatric or psychosocial comorbidities due to their skin problem. Both of these categories can be quite challenging in terms of management. In particular, patients with psychiatric disease usually refuse a referral to a psychiatrist and seek help from a dermatologist, considering their condition to be of cutaneous origin.